double chocolate chip cookies

With one week until Halloween, these double chocolate chip cookies are helping me get into the dark, spooky spirit of the holiday.

I have never been that into Halloween and all of the spooky decorations, but I do love seeing all of the little kids, dressed up and so excited about their candy haul. Growing up, Halloween always felt like the first really cold night of the season (looking back now, that is probably just because I wasn’t outside at night for a long period of time until Halloween night, so I didn’t realize that other October nights were cold too). It was also DARK. No matter how early we went out, with the sun setting earlier and earlier by the end of October, the costume-and-candy-filled night was always dark and cold.  While it was so much fun, I was always glad to be inside the warm house at the end of the night, trading candy with my siblings on the bedroom floor.

The goal of these giant chocolaty cookies was to emulate the delicious Levain Bakery cookies my family and I tried while we were in New York a few months ago. They absolutely nail the dense, soft texture and perfect amount of sweetness, and are just as good as the real deal for those of us who aren’t near the Manhattan bakery. Though I stuck with the classic chocolate chips this time, you could also replace some, or all, of the chocolate chips with chopped up leftover Halloween candy (peanut butter M&Ms, Reese’s cups, and Snickers bars would probably be delicious!).

These double chocolate chip cookies are the perfect deep dark chocolaty cookies for Halloween parties, or for nibbling on as trick-or-treaters diminish your candy bowl throughout the night. The dark color reminds me of the Halloween nights I spent going door to door for candy, and the chocolate pockets are reminiscent of the candy stash I came home with at the end of the night. They are an adult twist on Halloween goodies, and so so much better than the bottom-of-the bowl candy that is left after the kids pick out all of the good treats.

To make giant Levain-sized cookies, use the 2-3 tablespoon measurement for the dough balls. If you don’t want quite the indulgence, use a 1 tablespoon scoop instead. No matter the size or mix-ins, these cookies won’t disappoint for your Halloween (or any other day) treat.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
¾ cup brown sugar, loosely packed
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon espresso or strongly brewed coffee
2 cups chocolate chips

To Make Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cold butter until it clumps together and forms a ball. Add the sugar and brown sugar and mix until combined. Add in the eggs, one at a time and beat until they are both fully incorporated. Beat in the vanilla extract and espresso/coffee. The batter may not be smooth, which is fine. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture. Beat until the flour is almost combined but there are still a few streaks of flour-cocoa mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Roll the dough into 12 equal sized balls (about 2-3 tablespoons of dough) for large cookies, or 1 tablespoon-sized dough balls for smaller cookies. Refrigerate the dough balls for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the cookies about 4-6 at a time with 2 inches between each dough ball. Bake for 18-20 minutes (or 10-12 minutes for smaller dough balls), or until just set. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes before eating or serving.

Adapted from How Sweet It Is